Effect of neuroactive drugs on production of fibrinolytic activity

¹ Ortho Research Laboratories, Raritan, New Jersey

Neuroactive drugs were investigated for their ability to produce a blood plasma fibrinolysin in experimental animals. Following intravenous injections of these drugs, blood samples were drawn and the plasma studied for fibrinolytic activity as indicated by the Astrup fibrin plate technique. Drugs inducing a small degree of fibrinolytic activity in dogs were acetylcholine hydrochloride, epinephrine hydrochloride, carbamylcholine chloride, physostigmine salicylate and prostigmine methylsulfate. The possible mechanism of drug-induced fibrinolysin as compared with the biological activation of profibrinolysin is interpreted on the basis of stimulation and release of catecholamines resulting from stimulation of sympathetic ganglia and the adrenal medulla.